Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 14th)

With the Christmas chocolates finally dwindling in number, we think it’s fair to say that 2023 is well under way. And as the year kicks off, so too do we see the return of gaming news — nature is healing, people!

This week at Nintendo Life, we have been welcoming in the new year with open arms, looking to the months ahead and talking about some of the upcoming big games. We prepared for some of the titles which are right around the corner as we ranked the best narratives in the Fire Emblem series and asked what is next for Final Fantasy on Switch after the pixel remaster? Then, of course, we looked on to Zelda, pondering which games we should all replay before Tears of the Kingdom comes out.

In the world of reviews this week, we had a great time getting to grips with a slice of retro action in Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider, then took to some twin-stick madness in Lone Ruin.

Now, some of us have come together to share what our gaming plans are looking like for the weekend. Have a read through our responses and then take to the comments to let us know what you will be playing!

Jim Norman, Staff Writer

This week I started playing this niche little game called Super Metroid (you might have heard of it) on the NSO SNES library. I was only meant to play for a few minutes but here I am, a couple of days later, about to take on Ridley. I have never beaten the game before so everything is new to me by this point and I must say (hot take alert) it is really, really good.

If I do manage to wrap that one up then I will most likely be continuing with The Last of Us Remastered. Again, this is the first time that I have got round to playing this unheard-of small indie title, and I wanted to at least get some playtime under my belt before the series starts.

Kate Gray, Staff Writer

This weekend I’m STILL watching my partner play Outer Wilds, I’m STILL perfecting my headshots in MGSV, and I just discovered the incredible Stacklands on Steam Deck. Unfortunately, that means that my Switch is taking a bit of a nap — although I just finished (and highly recommend) Beacon Pines and South of the Circle, which are both on Switch. Busy weekend!

Alana Hagues, Staff Writer

I’ve already beaten two games this year, which isn’t bad at all! Sure, I started one last year, but shhh. Next on my list to tackle is something I’ve wanted to play for ages – Disco Elysium: The Final Cut. I got a physical copy on Switch for a good deal and I couldn’t pass it up, and I’m very excited to finally discover what the hype is all about.

I’ll be juggling a few smaller things on the side too – I’m going back to Ghost Song and dabbling in some Final Fantasy XIV before I drop my sub for a bit – but I’m mostly going to be cosying up with a book or catching up on some AGDQ runs such as Neon White, Celeste, Ocarina of Time, and Fashion Police Squad. I promise the last one is a real video game.

Ollie Reynolds, Staff Writer

I won’t be gaming too much this weekend, as Saturday will be my daughter’s first birthday, so all of my attention will be on her! We’ll be playing lots of Peekaboo, This Little Piggy, and Tummy Time, but probably no Switch games… not yet, anyway.

On Sunday, however, I might dive into Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider and give that a few playthroughs. It’s a nice, short experience, so I’m confident I can squeeze in a few 10-minute sessions here and there!

Gonçalo Lopes, Reviewer

Austin Voigt, Contributing Writer

Lately, I’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic for some of the classic Pokémon games after the interesting experience that was Scarlet and Violet. I missed the heydays of Game Freak creating games that were clean, detailed, and well-thought-out – and that led me to pull out some of my favourites: Pokémon Yellow (thanks for helping me find a good deal on the manual, Zion!), Crystal, Emerald, Alpha Sapphire, SoulSilver, and Black – to name a few. And those games have still held their magic for me, even today. Highly recommend going back into the Pokémon archives, especially if you were also a bit let down by the latest entries in the series. You’ll appreciate the classics even more now.

We hope you enjoyed reading! Add the game that you’ll be maining in the poll below and leave a comment with your gaming plans for the weekend ahead!